FIFA ranking:
50th
Group opponents:
v. Sweden – 11 June – Olympic Stadium, Kiev
v. France – 15 June – Donbass Arena, Donetsk
v. England – 19 June – Donbass Arena, Donetsk
The road to the championship:
Glorious Ukraine marched through qualifying without defeat! Without conceding! Without playing a minute of football…
Ukraine has managed four wins out of its last five friendlies, including a 3-0 win over Bulgaria, a 2-1 win over Austria and a 3-3 draw with Germany.
Past success:
EURO 2012 is the first championship that Ukraine has qualified for, after gaining independence from the USSR in 1991.
Star Players:
Andriy Shevchenko – The former Ballon d’Or winner may be in the twilight of his career (ask any Chelsea supporter and they will tell you he retired from playing football the day he signed for the club) but he still managed to score six goals in 15 (mainly substitute) appearances, in an injury plagued season for Ukrainian giants, Dynamo Kiev.
Shevchenko will most likely be used as an impact player off the bench. Even though he has lost a yard or two in pace, no one can question his leadership and technical ability.
He will be desperate to add to his 46 international goals in-front of his home crowd.
Player to watch out for:
Anatoliy Tymoshchuk – The Bayern Munich defensive midfielder has put in another solid season for the Bavarian club, playing a key role in the team’s march towards the Champions League final.
If Tymoschuk finds form at EURO 2012 he will take a great deal of pressure off the relatively inexperienced Ukrainian back four as well as providing a solid foundation for attack.
As the most capped player for Ukraine (114), the only question mark will be if his 33-year-old legs still have the stamina to last the tournament, should Ukraine progress past the group stage.
The Coach:
Oleh Blokhin previously led Ukraine to the quarter finals of the 2006 World Cup, but stepped down after Ukraine failed to qualify for the 2008 European tournament.
Blokhin’s managerial performance at club level has varied; he won two Greek cups with Olympiacos in the early ’90s, but his more recent performances, particularly with FC Moscow, have been anything but successful.
Since beginning his second stint as Ukraine manager in April 2011, Blokhin has had mixed results. He started strongly with draws against the Netherlands and wins against Chile and Uzbekistan, however Ukraine then went on to lose four Friendlies in a row to France, Sweden, Uruguay and Czech Republic.
Blokhin will be hoping Ukraine rediscover the form that took the team to the 2006 World Cup quarter finals.
Classic EURO Moment:
EURO 2012 is Ukraine’s first appearance at the finals.
Internationally, its greatest success came at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, when the side managed to progress to the quarter finals, only to be knocked out by eventual champions Italy.
Prediction:
Champions! To quote the Ukrainian national anthem, ‘Our enemies will die, as the dew does in the sunshine.’
Dane Jaremczuk is a former Communications Advisor for Monash University. He is currently teaching English in Japan.
upstart is previewing each of the final teams in the lead up to the EURO 2012. Tomorrow’s team: Sweden
